Circular knitting machine



April 29, 1941. j s. 'SHELMJRE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed March 27,1940 4 SheetsS heet 1 m s a .1: Rw V|.5 mm N@ A T s lllmlllllll' LN; Ti:JL.

April 29, 1941.

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CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Shegt 2 Filed March 27, 1940[n.verzZ-ar Z STANLEY R. SHELMIRE 5y his @iZfara eye April 29, 1941. s.R. SHELMIRE CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1940 4Sheets-Sheet 3 TiuzrlE.

[ZZZ/6722B)"- STANLEY R. SHELMIRE 5; 712.2 a/Z-Zarne Z/F April 29, 1941.,s; R. SHELMIRE 4 4 V CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1940 4Sheets- Sheet 4 x STANLEY R.SHELMIRE 53/ 72219 ai'iarrzeys PatentedApr.,29, 1941 cmcumm xm'r'rmc. mounts Stanley ll. Shelmire, Laconia, N.11., assignor to Scott .1; Williams; Incorporated, Laconia, N. IL, acorporation of Massachusetts Application March 27, 1940, Serial No.326,282

(cl. cc-so) Claims.

This invention relates to independent needle circular knitting machines,and more particular- 1y to such machines when adapted to make patternedfabric by manipulation of the knitting elements. One object of thepresent invention is to produce a machine of the cross-over type inwhich the entire manipulation is caused without the use of a second camrace. It is characteristic oi the invention that the cross-over eflectand knitting wave are obtained in a single cam race and that all theneedles are drawn down to the knocking-over point at each feed. Theinvention is intended for use in a multi-ieed machine and it can makeeither plain and tuck, or plain and iloat patterns. By the cross-over?system is meant the type of memory" system in which, for instance,certain needles make regular stitches at one ieed while the others makethe special form of stitch at that feed, and at a subsequent feed thesituation is reversed without interposition of the pattern selectingmechanism. The cross-over can be caused after knitting one or aplurality of feeds. The invention will be shown embodied in a machinecontaining electromechanical selecting means of the type shown in theapplication of Albert E. Page Ser. No. 201,650, filed April 12, 1938,now Patent 2,225,842, for Circular knitting machine, and using theneedle oi the patent to Albert E. Page No. 2;l29,148, dated September 6,1938. a

In pattern devices selecting individual knitting elements oi the memorytype, it has heretofore been necessary to use a cam race for theselected jacks or needles separate from the knitting cam race, or tointerfere with the knitting movements 3 of the needles. By means of thepresent invention the sliding butt needle the Page Patent 2,129,148 canbe employed as a memory device in a cross-over type of mechanism withthe use of a single cam race i'or the knitting and the memory means.According to this invention all the needles pass through the regularknitting wave at each feed, and all the needles are brought down to theknocking-over point at each iced. Thus, with one cam setup, certainneedles can be caused to float at one or more successive feeds while theothers mt regular stitches, and thereafter for one or more feeds theneedles which'knit regular stitches can be caused to knit 'iioatstitches, while the ones which were making float stitches will now makeregular stitches; All this is achieved in a single cam race by a simplecam needles only when clearing or taking the yarns.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a view in elevation, partly broken away, ofpart of the needle cylinder and pattern mechanism of a revolving needlecylinder circular knitting machine embodying the new invention; v

Fig. 2 is a developed view in elevation of the sliding butt needles anda schematic single cam race layout of the machine oi-Fig. 1 with theneedle b'utts being selected without the interpositioning oi patternjacks, adjusted to make float stitch and plain stitch; the needlesmoving from left to right and the vertical arrows indicatin theknocking-over points of the two feeds shown;

Fig. 3 is a developed view in plan of the needles and cam race of Fig.2;

Figs. 4 to 8 are views in vertical section through the needle cylinderof the machine shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the views being taken on thelines 4-4, 5-5, M, 1-1 and 8-8 respectively, of Fig. 2, looking in thedirection of the small arrows. Fig. 4 shows one needle at normal leveljust after its sliding butt has been depressed by the selecting hammer,and another needle whose butt was not depressed just after riding up thethin clearing cam at the first or left feed in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 shows aneedle before and after being lowered by, the knocking-over cam at thefirst feed; flg.'6 shows needles raised to the dividing height from theknocking-over point at the first feed; Fig. 7 shows a needle with anextended butt returned to normal level by a thin dividing cam;

' Fig. 8 shows the extended butt needle of Fig. '7

system. making use of the sliding butts of the needles. There isvertical separation of the traveling under the clearing cam at thesecond or right'hand feed of Fig. 7, and also the depressed butt needlewhile-being raised by the clearing cam and after it has been completelyraised and its butt reset;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a sliding butt cylinder needle suitablefor use in the new machine;

Fig. 10 is a view in elevation from the right side of Fig. 1, showingthe selecting hammer and associated parts;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the hammer acting directly on the needle buttsof Figs. 2 to 4, in-

elusive;

Fig. 12 is a development similar to Fig. 2, of a modified iorni of camrace embodying the invention, adjusted to make tuck and plain stitches,the needle selection being caused directly on the needle butts by atrick or notched wheel;

Fig. 13 is a developed plan view similar to Fig.

3, oi the needles and cams of Fig. 12;

. feed of Fig. 12;

Fig. 16 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the edge of the notchedwheel of Fig. 12 engaging the needle butts, the arrows representing thedirections of movement of the parts; while Fig. 17 is a view in radialvertical section through the needle of the modification of Fig. 12,taken on the line l|il, showing the notched the fabric is similar tothat produced by an ortrick wheel and. its driving gear for engaging theneedle butts.

In selecting needles for the forming of special stitches for patternefiects on independent needle circular knittin machines having amultiplicity of feeds, it is necessary, for reasons of economy of spaceand simplicity, to make one pattern selecting mechanism efiective for apinrality of feeds by means of a memory device such asa cross-oversystem in which after producing a pattern selection at one or morefeeds, themachine will automatically switch or cross over to anotherselection without the use of asecond pattern mechanism. The presentinvention achieves this end in a very simple: manner without the use ofpattern jacks, thus freeing a machine containing ,pattem jacks to usethose elements for other purposes.

The embodiments of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 10 will bedescribed first. In these embodiments the special stitch employedjis afloat stitch and the special stitches are made on the cylinder needles.This machine is a rib knitting machine with a revolving needle cylinderin which the dial needles n knit at each feed but the cylinder needlesmay be so managed as to knit only once for each revolution of themachine or only once for each of a plurality of feeds. In Fig. 2 eachcylinder needle knits once in each two feeds. The machine has a bedplateB supporting a rotary needle cylinder 2% in which independent cylinderlatch needles N move vertically in slots, as usual. The needle cylinderis surrounded by a stationary cam cylinder or ring 21 I.

One of the objects of this invention is to produce .a machine which canknit large designs, that is to say, designs in which a large number ofadjacent needles all knit the one pattern yarn. The other pattern yarns,of course, must be floated in back of these needles, and to preventsuchfloats. which would be objectionable the machine contains in additionthe following elements. There "is' a dial D containing dial needles nand actuating cams (not shown) there being as many dial needles as thereare cylinder 5 I needles. As a result, rib fabric is obtained. .The dialneedles knit at each feed, and since they take the floats which areformed by the cylimier dinary two-feed machine.

Carried above the needle cylinder 260 and the dial D my means of abracket til, ring 32 and posts M, is a large pattern drum or cylinder 33whose axis is coaxial, with that of the needle cylinder. Around thelower edge of. this pattern cylinder is a gear ring (not shown) which,through appropriate gearing, drives the pattern cylinder in synchronismwith the needle cylinder.

In the example shown in Fig. 1, the two cylinders revolve in a clockwisedirection. On the surface of the pattern cylinder is pasted or otherwiserepresented the design which it is desired to reproduce in the fabric.It is necessary that the representation of the design be colored in suchmanner and the rest of the machine arranged so that only the needleswhich are to take the pattern yarn at any given feed will be selected,and all the other will not be selected. For example, electricalapparatus may be so arranged that when a ray of light from a lamp orlight source is reflected from a reflecting substance on the patterncylinder, onto the plate of a photo-electric cell 36, current istransmitted through the wires 55 and the corresponding cylinder needledoes not take the yarn at 5. The remainder of the pattern may be blackwhich will not reflect enough light to cause the electrical apparatus tofunction and the cylinder needles corresponding to this part of thepattern cylinder will take yarn and knit. at 5 We will assume that weare making fioat stitch patterns by the use of the setup in Fig. 2, andthat a pattern such as shown opposite the scanner 36 in Fig. 1 is to beproduced. In this figure a shield shown with dotted portions 31 issuperposed on a background indicated by cross-hatching 3B. The dottedparts 31 are colored silver and the cross-hatched parts 38, black. Thepattern (dotted) or silver portions will be produced by the cylinderneedles which knit at the second or right hand feed of Fig. 2, and thebackground (cross-hatched) or black portions will ,be produced by theyarn which is knit by the cylinder needles at the first or left handfeed.

The needles to be selected are constructed in accordance with the patentto Albert E. Page No. 2,129,148, above mentioned, and contain a needles,I'get twocourses of rib stitches for each course of cylinder stitches.The stitches 'knit by the dial needles appear on the inside 01' thefabric only and it is therefore immaterial if the k two courses ot-ribstitches are or diflerent colorsthey do not affect the pattern on theoutside sliding operating butt. Butts of two diiierent lengths can bepresented to the knitting'cams by the needle. The needle is shown inperspective in Fig. 9 and has a shank 22 and a fixed low operating butt28 extending laterally from the shank, as usual. This butt projectslaterally from the shank in the plane of the hook of they needle on theupper side of theshank, and is of considerable width in order that thenovel sliding butt 26 may project through it. The sliding butt moves inthe plane of the hook and the fixed butt in a slot 21 cut in one side ofthe shank of the needle and the fixed butt. The sliding butt is held inthe slot in a frictioned manner by meansv of a spring finger 28 rivetedto the fixed butt and overlying the slot 21 opposite the low butt. Thelength of the sliding butt is such that it either projects beyond the"back or lower edge of the shank of theneedle or beyond the low or fixedbutt. 'When it is projected beyond the low butt, it is adapted to causeone manipulation ofthe needle, and when ,it is'depressed until it isflush with the fixed butt,-the needle receives adiflerent manipulation.It has been'iound possible to cause all the necessary movements 01' thesliding butt without rocking the needle or otherwise disturblng itslongitudinal and knitting operations,

' The horizontal lacks 18 .rest on their lower edges, and these arecurved so that the jacks can rock according to whether their inner orouter ends are pushed down. The end of the hammer or armature l8overlies the outer ends oi the horizontal Jacks as they come around toor rounded end of the slidingbutt will not quite contact the bottom ofthe groove. The pushing upwardly, l. e., outwardly oi the sliding buttis obtained automatically without reference to any selecting me wheneverthe needle is pushed upward until the rounded end or the sliding buttcontacts the bevelled upper end is of the groove 29 when it is cammedoutwardly to its extended position (see Fig. 8). In the constructions ofFigs. 1 to 10, certain needles must retain their knitting loops and passbelow the knitting cams without taking yarn, i, e., welting or floating,and it is those needles whose sliding butts are thus selectivelydepressed which make the special stitch at the first ieed. After one ormore feeds the cross-over takes place and it is the needle whose slidingbutt was not tie-- pressed which makes the special stitch.

The selecting of the sliding butt may be done by various mechanisms suchas an electro-mechanical hammer or a pattern wheel, but in theconstructions shown in Figs. 1 to 10. the selecting is done byelectro-mechanical hammers and mechanisms which will now be described.These selecting mechanisms comprise essentially a pattern scanningdevice having rotary movement relative to the pattern, electric meansoperated by that scanning device which in turn may cause a singleelement to have mechanical movement directly on the all butts or otherindividual a point radially outward irom the needle cylinder. and thishammer Id, operating through a notch in the cover II, can depress theouter ends of thejacks. The cap or cover Ii does not revolve. The hammerI8 is pivoted at 54 with tension spring 52 tending to keep the hammer inretracted position. There is an electromagnet 6.3 adjacent the end-ofthe hammer opposite the operating end, this electromagnet being adaptedto turn the hammer about its pivot point. There is a stationary camplate I1 fastened on the lower sideof the cover H which is adapted toact on the horizontal jacks to complete the selection started by thehammer id. This camplate also assists in repositioning the jacks fortheir next selection by the hammer. When the horizontal jacks areprojected, the rotation of the horizontal wheel causes the Jacks to movein through an opening 16 in the cam ring into engagement with thecorresponding sliding butt and depresses same to the position shown inFigs.

A 1 and d.

elements which are moving past this single ele-f ment with the sameangular speed as that at which the pattern is moving. The element whichhas mechanical movement directly on the individual elements to depressthem can he the magnetically-operated hammer 5d 01 Figs. 2, 3 and l l,which has been found to move fast enough to select a single needle or agroup of needles in accurate accordance with the pattern passing thescanning device and with suillcient force to drive the sliding buttsinward until they are flush with the fixed low operating butts.

' The scanning device is an electric eye or photoelectric cell it movedvertically by a screw shaft 4d. The revolutions oi the-shalt 39 aredetermined bythe driving gear Bil on the bottom of the shaft, whichdriving gear is driven by a train of gears 8B, 89, ill, from the maingear ring it for the needle cylinder.

In the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 10, a hammer i8 is used which doesnot act directly on the butts oi the needles. Driven from the main gearring is a horizontal'wheel 10 carrying a plurality of small horizontallacks II arranged in radial grooves on the wheel and held in position bya cap it. The connection between the- As mentioned above, it will beobvious that the electro-magnetic hammer could operate directly on thesliding butts rather than through the intermediary oi the horizontaljacks 15, and this simplified arrangement'is the one indicateddiagrammatically in Figs. 2 and 3, and more specifically in Fig. 11.Inthis form of the invention the hammer 58 is plvotally carried on aframe M with a tension spring tending to keep the operating end of thehammer .50 in retracted position. There is an electromagnet adlacent theother bent end of the hammer op- I posite to the operating end, as inthe construction. of Fig, 10, this electromagnet being located insuflicient proximity to turn the hammer about its pivot point, and bringthe operating and into engagement with a slidingbutt whenever theelectromagnet is energized (see Fig. 11).

main gear ring it and the wheel I0 comprises f a gear ill meshing withthe main gear ring, and a vertical spindle, 12 carrying the gear '14 andthe wheel Ill. The drive for this horizontal wheel I! and the spacing ofthe horizontal locks 15' therein are such that as the needle cylinderrevolves and the horizontal wheel turns, a'horlzontal jack comesopposite the sliding butt of each needle in the needle cylinder. v

The sliding butts can also be selected by means which are whollymechanical, such for instance as the trick wheel construction shown inFigs. 16 and 17, and; incidentally, shown in Figs. 12 and 13. Referringto Figs. 16 and 17, the low fixed butts 23 as well as the sliding butt26 project radially from the walls of the needle cylinder, and advantageis taken of this fact to use a trick wheel 19 mounted on a vertical axletil revolving at the level of the high butts. There are flat-ended teeth86 on the periphery of this trick wheel, spaced in accordance with thepattern. Wherever there is such. a tooth, revolution of the wheel willdepress the corresponding sliding butt to a position flush with the lowor Whenever such a tooth is cut fixed butt 23. ofi, the sliding butt 26will remain in its uppermost position, 1. e., projected beyond the fixedbutt. For the purpose of turning this trick wheel in timed relation withthe needles, there is a gear wheel 82 mounted just above the trick wheelon the same axle, having teeth 88 around its periphery which areslightly longer than those on the trick wheel. The teeth on the gearwheel are offset with relation to the trick wheel teeth so-that theyoverlap and inter-mesh with the low or fixed butts 23 01' the needles.As a result, the turning of the needle cylinder will cause timedrelation with them. The teeth on the gear wheel will fall in the spacebetween the needles, and the teeth on the trick wheel will be oppositethe needles, as above described. The

. ing needs, the sliding butt needles and their selecting mechanisms andcams could be used in the dial of the machine.

The com ring layout for taking advantage of the selectivelydistinguished positions of the butts of the needles to provide thepeculiarly simple and elastic construction of this invention is shown inFigs. 2 and 3. In these two figures the needles are moving from left toright and two feeds are shown, the knocking-over points being indicatedby the two vertical arrows. It might be stated at the outset that withthe exception of cams I30 and I33, the cams are all of such a depth thatthey extend inwardly toward the needlecylinder far enough to engage thefixed low butts. 'The upper part of cam I30 at the left hand feed asviewed in Fig. 2 functions as a clearing cam but does not clear thoseneedles which are to be left at the special stitch level. This specialstitch level may be any level which does not clear the latch butproduces a special stitch, e. g., tuck or float. The upper part of camI30 is thin and while it extends inwardly from the cam ring 2' farenough to engage the extended sliding butts, it is spaced from theneedle cylinder far enough to miss the fixed low butts of the needles.In the example shown in Fig. 2, the non-clearing needles at the lefthand feed are being left at a welting level which will result in a floatstitch, and the shoulder on cam I30 for holding the needles withdepressed sliding butts therefore occurs atthe elevation marked I36,which is the normal level of the needles.

The butts of the needles travel in a single or of all needles whosesliding butts project and therefore took yarn and knitted at the lefthand feed. Such needles passing under the clearing cam I are engaged bythe knocking-over cam I30 at the right hand feed and are drawn down tothe knocking-over level along wtih the needles with depressed slidingbutts, which in the meantime have passed the special thin lowering camI33 without being affected by it, have been cleared by cam I34 and takenyarn.

It will be noted that the raising cam I32 serves to raise the low buttneedles to a level where they will subsequently be engaged by'theclearing cam I34. This clearing cam I30 raises the low butt needles to ahigher level than the cam i30'raised the high butt, needles at the lefthand closed cam path, all the needles goingthrough exactly the samemovement except during the time when latches are being cleared and yarnstaken in the hooks of the needles. Thus according to the presentinvention the knocking-over cam III at the left hand feed and theknockingover cam I30 at the right hand feed engage all the needles andbring them down to the knocking over level, and the selection as to thesliding butts occurs when the needles are all at one level. As alreadyexplained, the needles with project'- ing sliding butts, i. e., thosewhose sliding'butts were not pushed radially inward by the hammer 00,will engge the'ithin portion of the cam I30 unease-up to the clearingpoint, after which -they will take yarn, be drawn down by theknocking-over cam I3I and knock over their stitches. The needles whosesliding butts were depressed by the hammer" will ride along the ledgeI30 at the welting or float level and will not take yarn but will bedrawn down to the knockingover level by the cam I3I, all the needlesthen being raised together by their fixed. butts enga ing the raisingcam I32. In Fig. 2 the projecting sliding butts are shown solid. and thedepressed sliding butts in outline only. As the needles come to the endof the high portion of the raising cam I32, the actual cross-over isstarted by the low or thin cam I33. This is a lowering cam whichprecedes the clearing cam at the right- .hand feed and it is adapted topush down below feed, because the lowbutt needles must be raised highenough to reset their sliding butts in the manner shown in Fig. 10 ofthe Page Patent 2,129,148. The high butt needles which rode up the camI30 remain projected to the full extent throughout their passage throughthe cam path and therefore do not need to be raised to this. level. Itwill be noted that the two cams which engage the high butt needles only.namely, the clearing cam I80 and the lowering cam I33, differ only inthat the clearing cam I30 moves the high butt needles up so that theycan knit at the left'hand feed, and the lowering cam I33 movesthem downso that they will not knit at the secondfeed. The sliding buttcross-over arrangement above described can be used to take care of theknitting at several different numbers of feeds. Thus while in thedrawings I have shown the arrangement taking care of only two feeds, thecross-overneed not occur at the second feed. On a four-feed machine, forexample, the first two or three feeds could be provided with a cam likecam I30 and the cam I33 could be placed at the .third and fom'th, or atthe fourth feed only. If a cam I33 were placed at both the third feedand the fourth feed, then it would be p the low butt needles which wouldknit regular stitches at the third and fourth feeds. In this case theclearing cam I30 would be at the fourth feed and a clearing cm of theheight of cam I30. would be used at the third feed. Repetition of theselection at the first feed would be obtained at the second feed by theuse of another cam I30 and elimination of cams I33 and I34. It will alsobe obvious that. if desired, the thin cams I30 and I33 canbe maderadially movable out of operative relation with the high butt 'needies,so that regardless of pattern selection, all needles would knit regularstitches at the feeds where cams I33 were withdrawn and all needleswould float or welt at the feeds where cams I30 were withdrawn. If itwas desirable to knit. on all needles at feeds where cams I30 were used,this cam might be moved in so that it would contact and raise theneedles by their solid butts,

and yet the selective patterning described would i be resumed at anyfeed where such special or low cam was not retracted to miss highsliding butts or moved into contact and raise solid butts. It is alsopossible to introduce areselection of the butts after a, cross-over, asshown for instance by the cam I31 and the second selecting armature 00shown at the right of'Fi'g. 2. The cam I31 serves to lower the needlesto the normal level where the sliding butts can be selected out bythenext armature or hammer II. In

this case the machine would have several feeds in addition tothose-shown in Fig. 2, and these the lower end of the clearing cam I34the butts "other feedswouid be located between th m arsenal ture'lif,and the armature ll, in the direction of movement or the needles as theyappear in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 12 I have shown a cam layout in ac- COI'dBJlCe with the presentinvention, adapted to make a somewhat difierent type of special stitch,l. e., a tuck stitch instead of a float stitch. In this form ,aselective tucking cam I88 is substituted for the clearing cam I" of Fig.2, and a tucking cam lfl is placed in a position below the clearing camI34. With these two cams I30 and I39, tuck stitches instead of floatstitches will occur at the needles which do not knit at that particularfeed. The cam I38 has a normal thickness up to the tuck height, wherethere isa' setback ledge along which the needles will pass when theirsliding butts have been depressed. At com In those needles which rodeall the way up cam I38 because their sliding butts were still projected,will be lowered'toescape the clearlng cam I36 and will then be elevatedto tuck level by cam I39 so that they will take yarn at the second feedwithout casting their loops, therer by producing the open tuck oi modernknitting,

as distlngulshed from what is sometimes called a tight or closed tuck.It will be seen that b making the tucking cam lw'retractable or bysplitting the cam I38 vertically so that the ledge portion is movablevertically from tuck to float level and back, it is possible to changeone or the other of special stitches produced by this cross-over fromtuck to float or vice versa. As in the case of Fig. 2, however, allneedles are brought down at each feed to the knocking-over level, whichis slightly below the normal level at which j their butts are selectedby the armatures, trick wheels or the like.

As an example of how this new invention can be employed, attention iscalled to the use oi color. the twofeeds, as ior example, one color atthe left hand iced and another at the right hand feed (as in Fig. 2), apattern of one color can be made at the left hand iced and a backgroundof another color at the other feed. The yarn which floats or tucks atthe cylinder needles will be taken in by the dial needles.

The construction of the machine having been described, its operationwill be set forth in connection with Figs. 1 and and the needle cams ofFigs. 2 and 3. when the scanner we scans a cross-hatched or blackportion of the cylinder, i. e., the background, which is to be knit bythe cylinder needle at the left hand feed, no electric current istransmitted to the armature l8 and the horizontal jack 'lb does not haveits inner end tipped up into contact with the cam ll which would causeprojection of the jack. Thus the horizontal jack, not having beenselected, will not be projected; the sliding butt of the needle will notbe depressed and will ride all the way up cam it! to the top, cl ing theneedle and insuring that it takes yarn at the left hand ieed. Whenthescanner 38 scans a silver or dotted portion of the pattern, it transmitsan electrical impulse to the armature I8, whichdepresses the outer endof the pattern jack, rocking the inner end upwardly into contact withits operating cams, as shown in the issued Page Patent 2,139,148, whichwill cause projection of this horizontal jack in time to depress thesliding butt of the corresponding needle. This needle then will not riseabove the special stitch If yarns of different colors are used atelevatedat all. As a result the needle ls' not cleared and does not takeyarn at this feed but is drawn down to the knocking-over level alongpressed sliding butts do not engage this thin cam ltd and ride up theclearing cam Wland take yam at this right hand feed. All the needies aredrawn down to the knocking-over level by the cam i355 acting on the lowbutts. Thus at the right hand feed the cylinder needles which areknitting the pattern knit in their yarn, comlevel Ill which issubstantially at the normal level of the needles as shown in Fig. 2 andtherefore in this particular example will not be pleting the patterningoperation. The needles .are raised to normal level, or slightly aboveit. and then lowered into accurate line for reselection by means of camlii. If instead of the hammer acting onthe pattern jacks the con.struction is used in which there are no pattern jacks, then the initialselection will be by hammer W and the reselection. by hammer 50' of Fig.2. If there are only two feeds in the machine, the cycle of operationswill repeat itself as necessary, and if the maclme is a four-feed one,the other two feeds may be interspersed in any order desired.

Many other modifications. of this invention which do not depart from thescope thereof will occur to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

, l. A knitting machine having a needle bed, a plurality of independentneedles therein, said needles being provided with sliding butts so thatbutts of two dltferent heights may be presented to the knitting cams,means to selectively move cer tain butts so that certain needles havehigh and others low buttsea plurality of feeds, and cams at-said feedsto give the needles diilerent manipulations according to whether theypresent high or low butts, so that at the first feed following aselection those needles having high butts function in one manner andthose needles having low butts function ina diiierent manner, and a atthe second feed following said selection the actions of the needles arereversed.

2. A knitting machine having a needle bed, a

plurality of independent needles therein, said needles being providedwith sliding butts so that butts of different heights may be presentedto the knitting cams, means to selectively move certain butts'so thatcertain needles have high and others low butts, a plurality of feeds,and cams at said feedsto give the needles diflerent nianipu iationsaccording to whether they present high.

or low butts, so that at the first feed following a selection thoseneedles having butts of one height will knit while those needles havingbutts oi the other height will not knit and at a feed i'ollowing saidselection those needles which knit at the first feed will notknit andthose needles which did not knit at the first feed will knit.

Va. A knitting machine having a needle bed, a

the fixed butt in the plane of the hook or to be buried therein, meansto selectively move certain sliding butts to the level of the fixedbutts. a plurality of feeds and a single cam path to give the needlesdifferent manipulations according to whether they present a high or alow butt so that at the first feed following a selection,

selected needles will function in one manner and to knit and to causethe needles with the other butt heights to fail to knit at the one feedand to reverse said functioning at another feed.

5. In a multi-feed circular knitting machine, a. series of independentneedles, a single cam path for said needles, operating butts on saidneedles which slide with relation to the shanks of the needles so thatbutts of different heights may be presented to the cams, said cam. pathcomprising a knitting cam and a clearing cam at each feed; the clearingcam at one or more feeds being adapted to select the needles into twogroups by moving upwardly to. clear level the needles presenting buttsof one height, and a cam at one or moreother feeds adapted to selectdownwardly so that they pass below the next clearing-cam those needleswhich were cleared on passage by the preceding upwardly-selectingclearing cam, thereby giving a cross-over effect.

6, A multi-feedcircular knitting machine with independent needles,sliding operating butts on a plurality of said needles and a singleclosed cam path for engaging said operating butts compris ing a cam ateach feed adapted to knock over all needles, a thin cam at one feedadapted to divide the needles into two groups according to butt heightby clearing one of said groups, in combination with a thin cam atanother feed adapted f to lower the needles raised by thefirst-mentioned thin cam, and a clearing cam at said secondmentionedfeed adapted to clear the needles missed by-the second thin cam and tomiss the butts of the needles lowered by said second thin cam, whereby across-over eflect is obtained in V the knitting cam path.

7. A multi-feed circular knitting machine with bination with other camsforming a single closed cam path forsaid needles and comprising raisingand lowering cams adapted to cause needles with butts of one height toclear and knit at certain feeds while needles presenting another buttheight do not knit, and to reverse the selection at other feeds. a

8. A multi-feed circular knitting machine having independent needlestherein, sliding operating butts on a plurality ofsaid needles and aselecting element adapted to arrange said butts to present high and lowbutts at one feed, in combination with a set of knitting cams for saidoperating butts comprising a knitting cam at each feed adapted to lowerall needles to the knocking-over point, a selective clearing cam leavinglow butt needles at a special stitch level at that feed, and selectivecam means for lower ing high butt needles to' the special stitch levelat another feed and below the clearing cam at that feed.

9. In a multi-ieed circular knitting machine, independent needles, aneedle bed, sliding operating' butts on a plurality of said needles, aselect-.

ing element adapted to arrange said butts to present high and low buttsat one feed, said sliding butts being of sumcient size to project belowthe shank when its needle preesnts a low butt, and a set of knittingcams for said operating butts comprising a selective clearing cam Ileaving low butt needles at a special stitch level at said one feed, andselective cam' means for lowering high butt needles to the specialstitch level at another feed, in combination with a clearing cam at saidsecond feed permitting the high butt needles to pass below it, andcamming means associated with the needle bed adapted to cam back tohigh-butt position the sliding butts of needles rising on the clearingcam at the second feed.

19. A multi-feed circular knitting machine. having'a needle bed, aplurality of independent needles therein having hooks, shanks and fixedoperating butts, in combination with a butt inside said fixed butt oneach of a plurality of needles adapted to slide with relation to theshrink and to project beyond the fixed butt in the plane of the hook orto be buried therein, means to selectively move certain sliding butts tothe level of the-flxed butts, a cam path for said needle"iiiittscomprising a cam adapted to conindependent needles, slidingoperatingbutts on a plurality" 'of 'said needles, selecting meansadapted to move said butts to produce diiferent iated butt heights, anda knitting cam at each of a plurality of feeds adapted to draw all ofsaid needles down to the knocking-over level, in comtact the high buttsto clear those needles at one feed, and a cam adapted to lower said highbutts at another feed, in combination with cams to complete the knittingwaves at both said feeds by contact with the fixed or low butts.

STANLEY R. SHZELMIRE.

